It's costing a lot to save money through Obamacare [Letter]

Vincent DeMarco knows a lot about the ACA but his math skills aren't so good ("For thousands of Marylanders, the Affordable Care Act is a big success," April 22). In his letter to the editor he touts $164 million of collective premium savings that will no longer will be needed to pay for uncompensated care for individuals without health insurance. However, at 320,000, the number of ACA enrollees in Maryland that was cited by Mr. DeMarco, the savings for uncompensated care works out to be $513 per enrollee.

So how much are we collectively paying to avoid $513 of uncompensated care per enrollee? Nationally, under Obamacare, the average subsidy per enrollee is about $2,800 per year. In Maryland, we also need to factor in about $50 million more to get a working health insurance exchange website. That works out to another $156 per enrollee. The total cost per enrollee to avoid $513 is now approaching $3,000, and we haven't included the costs for advertising and the wages paid to the navigators.